Cash For Clunkers Program To Be Extended

It appears that Senate Democrats have enough votes to win passage of the additional $2 billion dollars for the Cash For Clunkers program. The additional funds should take the program thru September.

The program appears to have motivated auto buyers into new car dealer showrooms. The Obama administration indicated that the program would end on August 7th without additional funding. The program appears to be a major success with increased sales and taken gas guzzlers off the road.

Here are the top ten cars purchased with the Cash for Clunkers program. The Ford Focus is shown above. The top ten cars sold are basically economy cars.

• 1. Ford Focus
• 2. Honda Civic
• 3. Toyota Corolla
• 4. Toyota Prius
• 5. Ford Escape
• 6. Toyota Camry
• 7. Dodge Caliber
• 8. Hyundai Elantra
• 9. Honda Fit
• 10. Chevrolet Cobalt

Listed below are the Cash For Clunkers trade-ins. The list is comprized of mainly SUV's and minivans.

• 1. 1998 Ford Explorer
• 2. 1997 Ford Explorer
• 3. 1996 Ford Explorer
• 4. 1999 Ford Explorer
• 5. Jeep Grand Cherokee
• 6. Jeep Cherokee
• 7. 1995 Ford Explorer
• 8. 1994 Ford Explorer
• 9. 1997 Ford Winstar
• 10. 1999 Dodge Caravan

SUMMARY:

This is definitely a good deal for consumers! Most of the cars listed above are economy cars, so if a consumer buys a vehicle that costs $15000. Then take the $3500 or $4500 a federal rebate....in addition to the discount on the vehicle plus any incentives from the manufacturer.

2009 Chevrolet Malibu

This is an interesting story about the 2009 Chevrolet Malibu, which is the seventh generation of the venerable name. The fifth and sixth generation of the The Malibu were really unimpressive vehicles.....basically reduced to rental fleets. The Malibu was redesigned for the 2008 model year.....at the direction of then GM Vice Chairman Robert Lutz.

Lutz was determined to manufacture an American automobile that was competitive with the Japanese mid size cars Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Under his direction, GM finally decided that to be competitive the Malibu needed extensive engineering and re-design.

The Malibu is built on a revised version of the long-wheelbase front-wheel drive platform shared with the Saturn Aura, Pontiac G6, Opel Signum. The only available transmission is a six-speed automatic. It is built at the Kansas City Plant, along with the Saturn Aura.

The interior design has been completely redone.....the selection of the two-tone color combination is very attractive. Higher quality interior pieces also accompany the redesign which has also been completely reworked, with a selection of two-tone color combinations(brick and tan two tone), telescoping steering wheel, higher-quality materials and a twin-cowl dash design.

The Malibu offers a 2.4 liter 169 hp. VVT in line 4-cylinder as the base engine. and a 252 hp, and a 3.6 liter V6 as an option. A hybrid option is available, which increased fuel economy of 26 mpg city/34 mpg highway.

The Malibu has received critical praise from the automotive press, with MotorTrend magazine rating the Malibu higher than the Honda Accord and Nissan Altima in the magazine's 2008 Car of The Year competition.

The 2008 Malibu received the North American Car of the Year Award at the North American International Auto show in Detroit. The runners up being the 2008 Cadillac CTS and the 2008 Honda Accord. The Malibu's win marks the second straight year that a car built on GM's Epsilon platform has won the North American COTY Award with the 2007 North American COTY Award having gone to the 2007 Saturn Aura. The Malibu was also named a Consumer Digest best buy for 2009.

Sales results have been positive with the Malibu joining the Cadillac CTS and Buick Enclave on a list of GM vehicles whose sales have exceeded expectations. The redesigned Malibu sold more than 50% more units in 2008 last year than in 2007, increasing GM's mid-size market share to 8.4% from 5.7%, while the Camry and Accord percentages remained flat at about 21% and 17.5%, according to GM. Sales to rental customers dropped to 27% of the total, as GM limited sales to rental fleets.

Pricing starts for the LS version at $22,325 USD plus options, the hybrid version is priced at $25,555 USD plus options.

SUMMARY:

The latest generation of the Malibu is a winner! The Malibu looks good, drives well, handles well and braking is good. The Malibu is another example of the kind of cars that GM is capable of building.

1445 Miles On A Tank Of Gas

My son Brian suggested that I do a post on the Ford Fusion Hybrid! In a ground breaking event for Ford, Ford has developed their own hybrid system. The system was developed internally within Ford, and does not utilize any of the Toyota Synergy drive components.

The first car to have the system installed is the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid. The Ford Fusion Hybrid is the most fuel efficient mid-sized sedan in America. Please see my February post labeled Can Detroit Build Hybrids?

In an effort to promote the new Ford Fusion Hybrid, Ford initiated a Fusion Hybrid 1000 mile challenge. Ford attempted to drive more than 1000 miles on a singe tank of gas. The Ford hybrid team drove for more than 43 continuous hours – on a single tank of gas. The Ford Fusion Hybrid was an average vehicle with no modifications for the race. A team of Ford hybrid engineers, a fuel efficiency expert and a NASCAR star drove the car for more than 43 continuous hours. See the Ford press release!

The results, of the the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid 1000 Mile Challenge, are that the Ford Fusion Hybrid actually averaged 81.5 mpg. and finished the challenge after going 1445.7 miles on one tank of gas.

The mileage-maximizing techniques that the Ford team used are:

• Slowing down and maintaining even throttle pressure
• Gradually accelerating and smoothly braking
• Maintaining a safe distance between vehicles and anticipating traffic conditions
• Coasting up to red lights and stop signs to avoid fuel waste and brake wear
• Minimize use of heater and air conditioning to reduce the load on the engine
• Close windows at high speeds to reduce aerodynamic drag
• Applying the “Pulse and Glide” technique while maintaining the flow of traffic
• Minimize excessive engine workload by using the vehicle’s kinetic forward motion to climb hills, and use downhill momentum to build speed; and
• Avoiding bumps and potholes that can reduce momentum
  Click here for more Eco-Driving tips
  

The Ford Fusion Hybrid starts at $27,270, and is eligible for a $3400 federal tax rebate. The EPA rating for the 2010 Fusion hybrid is 41 mpg city, 36 mpg highway. This model gets the better fuel economy of competing Toyota Camry Hybrid mid-size sedan.

My take on this is that this shows how far that hybrids have been developed. Congratulations to Ford for developing a such an effective green vehicle. There will be many more developments over the next several years.